Questions about faith?
Alpha is an opportunity to ask any question about faith, spirituality, and God without feeling judged or pressured.
Need a new routine?
Rooted is a 10-week spiritual growth experience that helps you establish seven core rhythms essential to a healthy relationship with Jesus.
Use your gifts.
As more people return to church, we have many fun and safe ways for you to re-engage and support our campuses.
Matthew 10:16-33
Jesus’ Mission
Purpose: Introduce the topic and get the group talking.
1. What is one of your favorite things about American Culture? (Food, Sports, Celebrations, History, etc.)
Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text.
This week we’re looking at Matthew 10, specifically verses 16-33. In this passage, Jesus is sending out his disciples to share the Gospel (the good news of the Kingdom) and to minister to the surrounding world. As he’s preparing them to go, he gives them warnings and instructions for how to approach their mission.
2. Read Matthew 10:16-33. What do you see Jesus preparing the disciples for?
3. In this passage, what guidance does Jesus give the disciples in light of what they will face?
Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.
4. How does the experience of persecution of Christians in America compare and contrast with that of Jesus’ disciples and/or with Christians in other parts of the world? (I.e. India, Iran, etc. )
5. What sort of responses to the Gospel (not just to Christian culture) have you personally encountered?
Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.
As disciples of Jesus, we are invited by Jesus to do the same things that he did. These instructions and warnings are for us just as much as they were for the disciples in Jesus’ time.
6. How do we be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ when facing opposition or even indifference?
7. Re-read vv. 19-20. Jesus says don’t be anxious when sharing your faith because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will speak through you. How does knowing God’s word and being in prayer drive out fear and prepare us for these moments?
8. What do you fear more than God and His judgment?
Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.
9. Re-read vv 32-33. Everyone Jesus called, He called publicly. There is really no such thing as a “secret” Christian, it’s an oxymoron. If arrested for the crime of following Jesus and tried in a court of law, would the charges be dismissed for a lack of evidence? Consider this question in a time of individual prayer and confession.
10. “What Christ is to you on earth, that you will be to Christ in heaven. If he is dear and precious to you, you will be dear and precious to him. If you thought everything of him, he will think everything of you.” - Charles Spurgeon
Spend some time in your groups praying for each person’s mission and the evidence of Christ in their lives.
Purpose: Introduce the topic and get the group talking.
1. What is one of your favorite things about American Culture? (Food, Sports, Celebrations, History, etc.)
This question is designed to be a light and fun starter to get the group conversation going.
Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text.
This week we’re looking at Matthew 10, specifically verses 16-33. In this passage, Jesus is sending out his disciples to share the Gospel (the good news of the Kingdom) and to minister to the surrounding world. As he’s preparing them to go, he gives them warnings and instructions for how to approach their mission.
2. Read Matthew 10:16-33. What do you see Jesus preparing the disciples for?
3. In this passage, what guidance does Jesus give the disciples in light of what they will face?
Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.
4. How does the experience of persecution of Christians in America compare and contrast with that of Jesus’ disciples and/or with Christians in other parts of the world? (I.e. India, Iran, etc. )
5. What sort of responses to the Gospel (not just to Christian culture) have you personally encountered?
Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.
As disciples of Jesus, we are invited by Jesus to do the same things that he did. These instructions and warnings are for us just as much as they were for the disciples in Jesus’ time.
6. How do we be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ when facing opposition or even indifference?
“In the apostolic age of Christianity, how harmoniously were these qualities displayed! Instead of the fanatical thirst for martyrdom, to which a later age gave birth, there was a manly combination of unflinching zeal and calm discretion, before which nothing was able to stand.” David Brown
7. Re-read vv. 19-20. Jesus says don’t be anxious when sharing your faith because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will speak through you. How does knowing God’s word and being in prayer drive out fear and prepare us for these moments?
8. What do you fear more than God and His judgment?
Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.
9. Re-read vv 32-33. Everyone Jesus called, He called publicly. There is really no such thing as a “secret” Christian, it’s an oxymoron. If arrested for the crime of following Jesus and tried in a court of law, would the charges be dismissed for a lack of evidence? Consider this question in a time of individual prayer and confession.
10. “What Christ is to you on earth, that you will be to Christ in heaven. If he is dear and precious to you, you will be dear and precious to him. If you thought everything of him, he will think everything of you.” - Charles Spurgeon
Spend some time in your groups praying for each person’s mission and the evidence of Christ in their lives.
